Upcoming Event

September 1st: All flesh is grass: A slow food public presentation

• Joel Salatin's "farm of many faces" is richly profiled in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma as "one of the most productive and influential alternative farms in America." Acclaimed author and pastoralist, Salatin's passion for humanity's ancient engagement with grass argues its current relevance to your health and our species' continuued success on the planet.

News Update

• Big Southern California water line nearly ready; 08/20/08
• Farm bill excludes dried fruits, nuts from school snacks ... Michael Doyle; 08/19/08
• Grape growers feel the crush: Vineyard owners endure the pain of low prices and rising costs ... Reed Fujii; 08/17/08
• Supervisors consider declaring groundwater emergency in Pajaro Valley ... Donna Jones; 08/17/08
• Diable Grande Receives Qualified Bids ... Tim Moran; 08/16/08
• Westlands water rationing finished ... Dennis Pollock; 08/16/08
• Costly water shell game points to need for reservoirs ... Editorial, Bay Area News Group; 08/15/08

Worth Reading

• Feinstein's right on water: Democrats need to get over their antipathy toward building new dams ... Editorial; 08/17/08
• Letter: Endangered Spiecies ... Curtis Mook, Atwater resident; 08/15/08
• Taking the Fast Track to Slow Food ... Scott Jason; 08/13/08

Web Sites Worth Visiting

American Farmland Trust: California - Paving Paradise

One out of every six acres developed in California since the Gold Rush was paved over between 1990 and 2004, concludes a new AFT report, Paving Paradise: A New Perspective on California Farmland Conversion. In all, more than a half million acres were urbanized during this period, almost two-thirds of it agricultural land. Among AFT's other findings: More than 60% of the land developed in the San Joaquin Valley, which accounts for half of California's agricultural production, was farmland of the very best quality. The attached report includes both a database and text that explains and analyzes the data.

Plumas Sierra Counties: Land Use Information

18 Different Fact Sheets (1 to 4 pages each) written in layperson terms to help us all better understand aspects of community land use planning.

Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association

The Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA) provides educational and business opportunities for farm workers and aspiring farmers to grow and sell crops grown on two organic farms in Monterey County, California.

The Story of Stuff.com

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.